I've Been to London to Visit the Queen
by elsiecarson
Summary: Ruth doesn't die at the end of season 10 and Harry does retire and they get married. This is the story of Sir Harry Pearce and Lady Ruth Pearce meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace to discuss Harry's career.
1. Remind Me Why I'm Doing This

"Why am I seeing the Queen?" Harry asks as Ruth straightens his tie. "I don't work for her anymore."

"She probably wants to thank you for your years of loyal service. Do I look okay?" Ruth asks as she checks her appearance in the full length mirror.

"You look beautiful. Come on, we'd better get going. The traffic's going to be murder at this time of day." Harry holds Ruth's coat open for her.

"Are you nervous, Harry?" Ruth asks as she and Harry walk out the front door of Harry's house he decided to keep in London for when they come up from Suffolk for events.

"I'm a little nervous. What about you?" Harry starts the Land Rover and pulls out of the drive.

"I'm very nervous. I've never met her before. You've at least met her before." Ruth says nervously. She's picking at her fingernails. She's quiet for the rest of the drive over to Buckingham Palace.


	2. Impatient Waiting

Harry pulls up to the gates and Ruth notices him drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. "Can I get your names, please, sir?" The guard asks.

"I'm Sir Harry Pearce and this is Lady Ruth Pearce." Harry says formally. It's the first time Ruth has heard Harry use her new title.

"Oh, yes sir, Her Majesty is expecting you. Just go through these arches to your left. You'll come out in the courtyard, turn right, and there will be someone waiting by the door for you." The guard instructs Harry.

"Thank you." Harry says coolly. He tries to maintain his composure as he pulls through the arches. He finds where he's supposed to be and slows the car to a stop. He and Ruth both take a deep breath before they step out of the car.

"Welcome Sir Harry, Lady Ruth. If you give us your keys, Sir, we can move your car. We're expecting Prince Philip back in the next few minutes." The doorman requests from Harry.

"Oh, of course. There you are." Harry turns his keys over to the man.

"Sir Harry, if you and Lady Pearce would like to follow me." The page says as Harry and Ruth enter the Palace.

Harry nods and he follows the man down a hallway and Ruth follows Harry. She's in awe at the beauty she's surrounded by. Harry turns back to check on Ruth and notices she's walking very slowly. "Come on, sweetheart. We can't keep Her Majesty waiting."

Ruth rushes to catch up. "Sorry, I was a bit distracted.

"That's very easy to do in here." The page says with a gentle smile. He approaches a huge set of doors and knocks. When he hears the voice on the other side answer he begins to open the door. "Sir Harry, you have gone over the protocol with your wife?"

"Yes, I have. She's well aware of the protocol." Harry says firmly in his best boss of MI-5 tone.

"Good, then let's go." the page opens the door and says, "Your Majesty, Sir Harry Pearce and Lady Ruth Pearce are here."


	3. Meeting the Queen

Harry and Ruth bow and curtsy to Her Majesty and step further into the room before repeating the actions. Harry then walks over and kisses Her Majesty's hand.

"Sir Harry Pearce, welcome, please sit down." Queen Elizabeth offers he and Ruth a seat. Harry and Ruth both carefully sit down. "This is your wife, Sir Harry?"

"Yes, ma'am. This is my wife, Ruth, and please, ma'am, it's just Harry. I hate using my title unless I have to." Harry happily relays the information about Ruth.

"Alright then, just Harry. How long have you and Lady Pearce been married?" Her Majesty asks politely.

"It's rather recent. We got married a month after I left the Service. So, we've been married six weeks." Harry smiles at Ruth.

"How long have you known Harry, Lady Pearce?" Queen Elizabeth asks turning towards Ruth.

"Please ma'am, call me Ruth. I'm not used to my title yet. Harry and I met when I started working in his section at MI-5. He was in charge of Section D and I was seconded from GCHQ. I became the intelligence analyst for the section. I worked there for nine years, thought I was in exile for three. 3 months ago I went to work for the Home Secretary as his Security Adviser and six weeks ago I retired." Ruth explains.

"That sounds like a very complicated life." Her Majesty pours each of them a cup of tea.

"You have no idea." Harry mumbles as he reaches for his cup of tea.

"Have you dealt with many terrible terrorist cases, Ruth? How many languages do you speak?" Her Majesty asks.

"I've dealt with too many terrorist cases to count. Some of them were terrible. I've lost more colleagues than I care to remember. I speak English, French, Latin, Mandarin, Wu, Arabic, and German. Wu is only a spoken language from Asia." Ruth tells the Queen. "I can also speak Greek."

"You are quite a brilliant woman, Ruth. I may have to look up the details of your career. If you caught the eye of Harry Pearce you must be quite remarkable. I know the details of his career quite well." The Queen smiles at Ruth.


	4. A Reward for a Brilliant Career

"The reason I asked you to come is because you, Harry, have had a remarkable career and I believe that you deserve to be rewarded. I obviously can't give you a higher title, and you don't seem to like them anyway. I can't say I blame you. I would like to honour you with a party here at the Palace. It would just be the people you want to come." Her Majesty tells Harry.

"I was only doing my duty, ma'am. You don't have to do that, really. It's not necessary that I be rewarded for doing my job." Harry says firmly.

"Harry, you deserve this. You have been serving this country since you were 22 years old. When are you going to admit that you deserve to be happy? I've seen your personality traits in so many spies over the years and I can't understand it. You deserve some credit for all the work you've done. Take some time to bask in the glory that your career carried." Her Majesty says seriously.

"I don't consider my career particularly glorious. I lost too many colleagues for me to consider my career glorious." Harry says equally seriously.

"He's always been so hard on himself. The truth is he's saved many more people than he's ever lost. He's very calm under pressure, which is key in the job he had. He plays down how important his role was. Most of the time he hates that he couldn't be in the field more often." Ruth explains to the Queen.

"I can understand that. You want to be in charge, but you also want to be involved. It's a hard balance to maintain. You have to give yourself some credit for being able to do that." Queen Elizabeth says gently. "I've already issued a commendation for you. Let me give you an opportunity to celebrate your distinguished career. You deserve that. It's time to celebrate and live your life happier."

"Well, I am not one to turn down a free party when I get a chance. It's a very generous offer, ma'am. Thank you very much." Harry says politely.

"Well, let's get my personal assistant in here and we can pick a date. This will be a wonderful party."


	5. Chit Chat

The Queen presses a button on the table to call for her personal assistant. "We'll work around both of our schedules."

"Luckily I don't do a lot these days. My schedule is pretty wide open now. I have a lot more time on my hands now." Harry tells the Queen.

"Retirement always sounds like such fun, but I don't have that luxury." Queen Elizabeth chuckles. "So, did you two move into your own space?"

"We miss London sometimes, but we moved down to Suffolk. I found a house than I love, and we're fixing a couple of things in the house, but it's almost perfect. We kept Harry's house in London for when we come back for events." Ruth tells the Queen.

"I've always liked Suffolk. Alright, the first day we could have the party is two weeks from Friday. Does that work?" Queen Elizabeth consults her calendar.

"Yes ma'am, that's fine. I'll let you consult with my wife about the party. She's a better party planner than I am." Harry admits to the Queen.

"I'll do the invitations if you get me the guest list. We'll exchange contact information before you leave. Your husband must really trust you if he's letting you plan the party." The Queen teases the couple.

"He had to trust me with his life. I'm sure nothing is as significant as that, so getting me to plan a party is easy. He's asked me to do things that I never thought I'd even know about. A party is not a big thing to ask me to do." Ruth teases Harry.

"You must be quite a remarkable woman to work at MI-5. It can't be an easy career choice for a woman in a male dominated workplace." Queen Elizabeth says to Ruth.

"Well, I wasn't a field agent, so women aren't as uncommon. Women are more uncommon as field agents. They have to be so tough. I just had to be in front of a computer." Ruth downplays her importance.

"She never takes enough credit. She kept all of us safe. She was a little unconventional for an MI-5 officer, but I appreciated that. You need more than one opinion on a situation and Ruth always had a different angle. I still remember her first day. She came into the meeting room and dropped all the files she was carrying. She wore a long, dark peasant skirt and a sweater. I made some sort of stupid joke that I'm sure didn't impress her at all. She was so striking and I was impressed right away." Harry smiles at Ruth.

"I was a lot unconventional. I wondered for a long time if I was going to be allowed to stay with MI-5 or if I was going to be sent back to GCHQ. I didn't want to go back to GCHQ. I felt like I was making a difference at MI-5." Ruth says honestly.

"You do make a difference. The people of this country rely on you and they don't even realize it. Is it odd to live a shadow life the way you do?" Queen Elizabeth asks.

"It's a bit weird to know that my parents will never know what my career has been. I didn't want my mother to know what I was doing because I knew she wouldn't like it. Harry's family knew thought." Ruth tells the Queen.

"How are your children, Harry?" The Queen asks. She knows about Harry's background.

"They're fine. My daughter is in Sierra Leone doing a documentary on the diamond industry which I'm not really thrilled about. My son has recovered from his drug addiction and has a landscaping job. I'm proud of both of my children and we're finally in a good place with our relationship which had been shaky at best over the years." Harry says honestly. He can see Ruth finally next to him. The nerves were getting the better of her earlier.

"Well, you'll have to invite them to your party. I'd love to meet them." Queen Elizabeth says with a smile.

"Of course, ma'am. My son may be hesitant to come, but his sister and Ruth will be able to persuade him." Harry smiles at Ruth.

"There should always be someone who can persuade your children to do things. They never learn to listen to their parents, so there has to be someone in their lives they'll take advice from." Queen Elizabeth says sympathetically.

"Isn't that just the truth? I'm quite glad that Graham has a connection with Ruth because he may not talk openly with me, but he'll tell Ruth things that she then passes on to me. I get all the information about my kids that I need." Harry is suddenly very comfortable with the Queen.

"How do you feel about gaining an instant family, Ruth? It must be difficult to step into a situation like this." The Queen says gently.

"I wouldn't say that anything about this relationship has been easy, but his kids have been the least of my worries. I think Harry was more concerned about his kids than I was. There were other things we needed to worry about first. I was injured in an operation and we had to deal with that first." Ruth says truthfully.

"Will you invite your family to the party, Ruth?" The Queen asks curiously.

"I think I better or my mother will never forgive me. She and Harry don't particularly get along with each other, but they're family, so they have to learn to get along. I want to be able to have family events and not family feuds." Ruth says with a smile.

"Well, good luck with that. It's not as easy as it seems to bring families together harmoniously. Be patient. It always takes longer than you would like." The Queen advises.


	6. Are You Watching the Time?

"Pardon the interruption. Elizabeth, have you checked the time recently?" Prince Philip asks as he enters the room.

"Oh, Philip, come and meet Sir Harry Pearce. He was the head of counter-terrorism at MI-5." Elizabeth introduces Harry to her husband. "This is his wife, Ruth. She worked as an intelligence analyst with Harry at MI-5."

"Pleased to meet you, Sir Harry. You have done an excellent job over the years. I suspect you were part of the security for the Golden Jubilee. We've been very safe in Britain thanks to MI-5." Prince Philip compliments Harry.

"Well, we do have a rather large blemish on my record with the 7/7 attacks. There will be some definite regrets in my career not that I'm looking back." Harry says seriously.

"There will always be regrets. You can't blame yourself or let those regrets taint how you feel about your career." Prince Philip reminds Harry. "Elizabeth, have you looked at the time?"

Elizabeth looks up at the clock on the mantle. "Good grief! It's late! It was so nice to meet you Sir Harry and Lady Ruth. My private secretary will give you my contact information so you can in touch with me with numbers and food ideas. I also need the names of all your guests so we can vet them. I'm sure you understand." The Queen stands up and Harry and Ruth mimic her actions.

"Of course, ma'am. Thank you for seeing us today. It's been a pleasure." Harry says sincerely.

"I'm sure you weren't expecting it to be half so pleasant either. Every spy I've ever known has always hated the politics side of the job, so I'm sure you weren't particularly looking forward to this." The Queen teases Harry.

"That's true, ma'am, but I have to say that this is the easiest political meeting I've ever attended. Thank you for putting us both at ease." Harry admits.

"You're very welcome. I'll see you soon, Harry and Ruth." The Queen says as Harry and Ruth leave the room.

"You're right, Harry. That was very easy and fun." Ruth says as the door closes and they both breathe a sigh of relief.

"I can't believe how relaxed I felt. I'm glad I came now." Harry says honestly.

"Even if you are stuck with a party in your honour, now?" Ruth teases.

"Even with all that." Harry says seriously.


End file.
